Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Archives for September 2019

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Dive Mom, What's Next For Me?

“My course is done, what do I do next?” This is a question I am asked all of them time and the answer is dependent on a number of things. Where are you in your diving? In other words, are you a new diver, someone with a little diving experience or someone with years of experience? This is the first step in finding a pathway into your diving future. Another question to ask yourself is what do I really want to do? Do I want to enjoy the fish or dive deep into wrecks?
If you remember from your Open Water class, there are four things that help make you a safe comfortable diver. We called this the Diver Diamond. The four parts of the diamond are proper knowledge, skills, equipment and experience. Every level of diving requires a balance of these four things. So let’s look at some possible pathways.

New Open Water Diver

Lift Bag by Chuck GerlneuchYou have completed your open water program and if you took it from Oceanic Ventures, your program probably included a Computer Diving Specialty and a Nitrox specialty. These two specialties along with twelve dives qualify you as a Specialty Diver.

To help you progress in your diving, enrolling in one of our Specialty Diver Weekends will let you continue to work on your buoyancy and diving skills with one of our diving professionals and will give you more knowledge of diving. This program includes the following specialties:

  • Navigation
  • Search & Relocation
  • Night & Limited Visibility Diving

You may also want to enroll in a Deep Diver specialty which you can complete on a trip. Completing this weekend will qualify you for your Advanced Open Water card (along with 24 logged dives).  We offer this the second week/weekend of the month.

Again, this program is designed to help you develop additional skills and knowledge to make diving more fun and to let you gain a little more experience underwater. And let’s not forget, it is a fun weekend! The water stays relatively warm in Houston through November so it is great to do in the fall. While we continue to offer the programs during the winter months, you will have to add a Dry Suit Specialty to your Course selection.

Advanced Open Water Diver

Ok, you have some specialties and some diving under your belt so, where do you go from here? My recommendation is to enroll in a Stress & Rescue class. This program will help you build more confidence in your diving abilities and to recognize problems before the dive begins. One of our clients even commented that it “was worth the price of admission.”

Another factor is that with fifty logged dives, four specialties and Stress & Rescue you will be qualified for your Master Diver card!

Other Diving Interests

Eric Keibler in a cave
Eric Keibler in a cave

You may also be thinking about getting involved in more specialized diving areas like wreck or cave diving, Extended Range diving (staying down longer or going a little deeper) or going all out for Technical Diving. Each of these programs has a progression of courses that build on your advanced open water knowledge and skills. We offer these courses throughout the year so if you are interested, contact me and I will help you get enrolled in the proper set of courses.  A good place to start this program is to enroll in a recreational side-mount program/advanced buoyancy class.  It is the first step down the extended range path.

Other programs like photography can be done by divers at all levels. The main diving skill for photography is buoyancy – it is bad form to kill the coral around your subject. There are various levels of equipment which enable you to capture those memories and it depends on how technical you want to be (i.e. point-n-shoot vs housed SLR) and how much you want to invest. We can help you evaluate your wants and desires.

Some people want to get more involved in working with certified divers or new divers. Like technical diving, there is a progression of courses leading from Dive Guide to Dive Master to Specialty Instructor to Assistant Instructor to Open Water Instructor all the way up to an Instructor Trainer.

Conclusion

No matter where you are in your diving skills and education there are programs to help take you to the next level. The important thing is to keep diving and keep learning in order to maintain and improve your skills. If I can help in anyway, please leave me a comment or drop me a line.

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Underway, Journey toward the Marquesas (#5)

6 June  06 22S / 111 51W.

We’re more or less halfway there and all is well on-board. Stories to follow if I can pry Rebecca’s computer away from here during daylight hours. Don’t know if I reported mine has a keyboard problem and is useless right now.

10 June 2002 – 07 46S / 123 41W

The Galapagos are 2100 miles and thirteen days behind us. The Marquesas are 900 nautical miles and about one week ahead. We’ve seen nothing on the horizon but blue water and white clouds for days and days. Except for the occasional night squalls, our weather has been picture-perfect for the trip.
We have had great luck fishing and are enjoying Mahi Mahi (or Dolphin or Dorado) again this evening. Today’s catch was just over three feet and will keep us in fish for a couple of days. Most of the fish will be baked but a few nice pieces have been put aside to have as a sashimi (okay, thinly sliced, cold, raw fish) appetizer. Our lockers always have a good supply of Wasabi, the hot mustard that goes with sushi or sashimi.

For fishing, we had been using our only “store-bought” lures, two very nice Rapalas which over the last couple of years have helped us to catch a lot of fish. However, a few days ago, they did their job too well. Both lures were trailing behind the boat. Each had a few feet of 120-pound test, nylon-coated stainless wire for a leader. One lure was on our Penn Senator saltwater trolling rod and reel. The other was on our “meat line”. The rod and reel got the first strike. I tightened the reel break but the fish kept stripping the line (i.e. pulling more lines out). Karen released the headsail sheet to slow the boat down and I added a bit more tension to the reel. The reel never reached the smoking stage but definitely started getting hot before the fish broke the wire leader. We reeled in our empty line and wondered just how big “the one that got away” had been this time. Later in the day, I rolled up our meat line to discover the wire had been bitten or broken as well. All in all, we are lucky those two fish didn’t make it on board.

Now we are back to fishing with homemade lures. Honestly, it is a lot more fun to catch fish on our own lures. A typical lure is assembled from stainless wire and crimps, a couple of bullet weights, a serious stainless hook, a store-bought plastic squid-looking thing, and anything else that strikes our fancy and looks “fishy”. Our latest creations include the thin Mylar lining from the inside of cardboard wine boxes (only the best you know) or pretzel bags. We cut a four or five-inch square including the corner of the liner or bag. The corner is always heavily reinforced and makes a good “head” for our lure. The lure is assembled with the following steps. Loop the leader wire through the head of the hook and secure it with a crimp. Slide a bullet weight down the wire to the hook. Push the wire through the corner of the Mylar bag so the hook is hidden inside the bag. Put a second bullet weight into the head of the store-bought squid (green and orange squids have been working well lately), poke the wire through the squid, and slide it down to cover the bag. Measure a few feet of wire for a leader, make a second loop in the end, and secure with a crimp. Finally, cut the Mylar bag into strips to mimic the legs of the squid. Attach your creation to your line and troll a boat length or so behind you. Set it out in the morning and start planning your menu.

Our meat line deserves a description. This is sixty feet or so of 1/4″ three-strand nylon line. A large stainless swivel is tied to the “fishing end”. Ten feet or so of 120-pound stainless wire follows that with a second swivel and snap hook crimped on the end. The leader of a lure is attached to the snap hook and the line is trolled behind the boat. Since the 1/4 line won’t give when a fish strikes we use a four-foot piece of heavy bungee as a shock absorber. One end of the bungee is tied to a loop in the 1/4 line and the other end is tied to the aft rail of our boat. Finally, the 1/4 line, with a good bit of slack, is attached to a large cleat on our aft deck. Now when a fish strikes, the bungee will stretch giving the fish a bit of play. Should the bungee break, the 1/4 will take the load. Much like Tom Sawyer tying a fishing line around his toe, we use a clothespin to hang the slack loop of 1/4 line up in the rigging so we can keep an eye on it from the cockpit. When a fish strikes, the bungee stretches, the loop pulls out of the clothes pin and we eventually notice. It’s a crude but very effective way to fish.

16 June

We spotted Fatu Hiva at 1800 Z or 9:30 AM local. Actually, it was Revision II who called us on the VHF and pointed it out. It’s about 1:30 and we have at least an hour or 2 to go before we are anchored. I hate that it takes so long after you’ve started celebrating to actually get anchored. All in all, it has taken 19 days. Not bad. An average of 161 miles a day.

The island is gorgeous. Definitely a sight for sore eyes. Can’t wait to go on shore tomorrow and explore. They supposedly have a lovely waterfall, though it is quite a walk to get to it. We’ll only stay a few days and then go to Hiva Oa to officially check-in.
Paradise at last! YEA!

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

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Underway, the South Pacific Bekons and a Dream of a Lifetime begins (#4)

29 May  – Underway to the Marquesas 02 22S / 092 37 W

A large swell started curving into the anchorage off the tiny town of Puerto Villamil, Galapagos. The small anchorage, inside the broken rim of a small volcano top, was fairly crowded. The fringing volcanic rock broke the swell when exposed, but at high tide, the waves came right over the rocks and we rolled worse than at sea. Of course, high tide came in the middle of the night and we slept fitfully, spread eagle and hanging onto our pillows to keep from rolling out of bed. We tolerated these conditions, waiting for the weekly supply ship to bring fresh vegetables. Thankfully the ship arrived on schedule, and Monday was spent shopping and storing. Noon Tuesday we escaped the anchorage for the relatively calm of the open ocean.

Clearing an island. The surrounding reefs and rocks keep all of us on deck. The helm area is cluttered with a chart, dividers, triangles, and a hand-bearing compass. We carefully plot our course and shoot bearings on obvious landmarks. GPS is accurate to a handful of meters these days but the charts haven’t all been corrected yet – especially the old, out-of-date charts most cruisers carry. It does little good to know exactly where you are if the island is a mile from where it’s charted. The winds were light and the sea calm so we had great conditions for spotting sea life around the Galapagos. Over a period of a couple of hours, we saw numerous turtles and a couple of sharks including a small hammerhead. Near the current line, we spied the usual collection of plastic bottles, sticks, and a large black plastic tarp. We noticed a few more tarps as we motored and worried about wrapping one around the prop. As we neared a group of three, one raised a wing revealing a white underbody. Just as we realized these were huge Manta Rays the wing slapped on the water splashing the boat and us. It was wonderful watching the rays swim as we passed.

It’s now Wednesday morning. S/V Enchante’ is moving along nicely in perfect sailing conditions – a cool breeze of 12-15 knots, clear skies, broad reaching in a long gentle swell with a knot of a favorable current, making 7 – 7.5 knots over the ground. Our favorite lure is trolling behind us but no fish yet. Thank goodness since the ice box and freezer are full of prepared meals for the first few days.

We meet twice daily on an SSB radio net with boats in the area. Several of them departed days ahead of us, one on the same day and more to follow. The spread of boats will share weather information, lie about the fish they’ve caught, and offer help should someone have a problem. It’s also nice to know others are sitting in their cockpits at 4 AM going through the same struggle to stay awake.

Our sleep periods will soon adjust to the two-hour watch schedules and even I will fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. The daily routine continues and Rebecca still has school five days a week. This is a long, 20-25-day voyage that we’ve dreamed about for years. Making this trip is a dream come true!

31 May

[In a conversation with Carl about his current sail, he had some words of advice for some mutual friends planning on joining the cruising life in the next year as well as for Ann and me] You could fly to the Society Islands (think Bora Bora) and charter a boat for a week or so. It would give all of you a taste of the South Pacific and motivate you to not fool around too long in the US, Bahamas, or Caribbean. I know this sounds odd coming from us [remember Carl spent 3 years in the Bonaire and Venezuela region of the Caribbean]. Thank goodness we’re finally here!
Sailing conditions couldn’t be better – broad reaching with 12-15 knots and a gentle swell. We’re hundreds of miles from any significant land mass and the winds have really settled into a consistent pattern undisturbed by thermals, mountains, and so forth.

Three days out and on schedule for a 20-day passage – 25 is more likely when it’s all over with.

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

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Galapagos Islands (#3)

        

Puerto Villamil Isla Isabela

Located on the southeastern coast of Isabela. Puerto Villamil is the main settlement area in Isabela. A small peaceful town with a laid-back atmosphere offers quite a different experience than the tourist shops on Puerto Ayora.

Villamil and the neighboring settlement of Santo Tomas were founded in 1897 by Antonio Gil. Villamil began as the center of a lime production operation. The lime produced by burning coral found off Isabela. Santo Tomas served as a sulfur mine and coffee plantation. The ventures were only somewhat profitable due to water limitations.

Together Villamil and Santo Tomas now have a population of approximately 1000 people. There are a variety of rooms available for visitors and equipment and supplies available for those climbing the nearby Sierra Negra Volcano.

Villamil is often considered the most beautiful site in the Galapagos with its long white sand, palm-lined

beaches. Behind Villamil are several brackish water lagoons where Pink Flamingoes, Common Stilts, Whimbrels, White-Cheeked Pintails, and Gallinules are usually seen. The lagoons are nesting areas between November – April. The beaches and lagoons near Villamil are home to the best migratory bird viewing in the Galapagos.

[From www.galapagosonline.com]

20 May 2002 

We’re heading for the Marquesas on Monday. We should be reaching the Marquesas in early June. With our leisurely schedule, it will be a couple of months before we are in the Societies – Bora Bora, Tahiti, etc. That would put us there in August or so. Any further thoughts about chartering a boat in the area and cruising around with us for a week or two? [We were never able to make this happen — such a loss…EVK]

Our plans seem to be shaping up along the following lines. After sailing around French Polynesia we’ll swing through the Cook Islands. The anchorages there are miserable but the people and their continuing Polynesian culture are not to be missed. After that, it’s a quick swing through Tonga on our way to New Zealand. We’ll arrive there in late October, just before the onset of cyclone season. Hopefully, we’ll find a marina near Auckland and put Rebecca in school for six months or so. That will give her some socialization while we do boat projects – new cushions, carpet, rigging, etc. We’ll base out of NZ for three years or so enjoying 1000 nautical mile trips (reaches both ways) to Tonga, Fiji, and the area. After that…

25 May 2002 00° 58S / 090° 58W

Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela (yep, only one ‘l’)  This tiny little town, with dirt roads and mixed architectures, offers the last anchorage and chance for fuel. After hearing reports of calm winds for hundreds of miles along our route we decided to stop here and wait for a bit of breeze.

Our “to-do” list is fairly short and all of the tools are stored so there aren’t any major projects underway. We’ll take it very easy here and save our energy for the 3000-mile trip to the Marquesas. Friends on S/V Aureo departed a week and a half ago and are experiencing a perfect weather window. They crossed the halfway mark yesterday and are on schedule for a 20-day crossing. Hopefully, our patience will be rewarded with the same excellent passage time.

Yesterday our pumpkin from Panama turned into a couple of loaves of bread. The remainder will make today’s soup. A stalk of a hundred or so green bananas is hanging from the stern rail. As promised they are beginning to ripen from the top down. The nice lady in the market neglected to mention that once the process started the entire stalk would ripen in three or four days. Looks like a menu of banana smoothies, banana bread, Bananas Foster, and baked bananas for a few days. Perhaps we’ll put a dozen or so through the blender with a bit of milk, ice, and rum and invite friends over for sundowners.

It’s a rough life here. Cool evening breezes, friendly people, sea lions and penguins, and a beach BBQ scheduled for Sunday evening. Still, the Port Captain will limit our stay to a few days, and visions of grass skirts beckon. We will move on in a few days.

[Note from Eric: in 1997, one of our instructors, Carl Strange, and his wife set off to sail the world.  Everyone wanted to know what was happening with Carl, Karen, and later with the addition of their new crew member, Rebecca.  So, we started to publish “The Strange Chronicles” so everyone could travel with them.  I was looking through some old files and found the Chronicles.  I started rereading them and decided it would be fun to republish some excerpts from them. They are an insight into the cruising lifestyle.]

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

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New Scuba Instructors

It was a cold stormy night; the air was as thick as a rubber duck.  The team was stuck inside wondering when the weather would break so they could go submerge in the tropical waters.  It was at this point that the duo decided that they needed to expand their horizons, look beyond the Caribbean to the once blue waters of Beautiful Blue Lagoon in Pine Prairie Texas.   They made the fatal phone call to Dive Mom and the dead was done… they were now on their way to becoming a certified Open Water Instructor!
The program was a lot of time listening to Eric espouse the virtues of Scuba Instruction while demonstrating their diving prowess and techniques to a variety of enlightened individuals.  Through it all they maintained kept their eyes on the goal of joining the few proud souls who are privileged to impart scuba knowledge to the uninitiated.
This past Sunday, they realized their goal; they became Open Water Scuba Instructors!  Congratulations Charles Alvarez and Zach Gay for becoming new Scuba Schools International Open Water Scuba Instructors!

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Galapagos Islands (#3)

20 May

We’re heading for the Marquesas on Monday. We should be reaching the Marquesas in early June. With our leisurely schedule, it will be a couple of months before we are in the Societies – Bora Bora, Tahiti, etc. That would put us there in August or so. Any further thoughts about chartering a boat in the area and cruising around with us for a week or two? [We were never able to make this happen — such a loss…EVK]

Our plans seem to be shaping up along the following lines. After sailing around French Polynesia we’ll swing through the Cook Islands. The anchorages there are miserable but the people and their continuing Polynesian culture are not to be missed. After that, it’s a quick swing through Tonga on our way to New Zealand. We’ll arrive there in late October, just before the onset of cyclone season. Hopefully, we’ll find a marina near Auckland and put Rebecca in school for six months or so. That will give her some socialization while we do boat projects – new cushions, carpet, rigging, etc. We’ll base out of NZ for three years or so enjoying 1000 nautical mile trips (reaches both ways) to Tonga, Fiji, and the area. After that…

25 May 00° 58S / 090° 58W

Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela (yep, only one ‘l’)  This tiny little town, with dirt roads and mixed architectures, offers the last anchorage and chance for fuel. After hearing reports of calm winds for hundreds of miles along our route we decided to stop here and wait for a bit of breeze.
Our “to-do” list is fairly short and all of the tools are stored so there aren’t any major projects underway. We’ll take it very easy here and save our energy for the 3000-mile trip to the Marquesas. Friends on S/V Aureo departed a week and a half ago and are experiencing a perfect weather window. They crossed the halfway mark yesterday and are on schedule for a 20-day crossing. Hopefully, our patience will be rewarded with the same excellent passage time.

Yesterday our pumpkin from Panama turned into a couple of loaves of bread. The remainder will make today’s soup. A stalk of a hundred or so green bananas is hanging from the stern rail. As promised they are beginning to ripen from the top down. The nice lady in the market neglected to mention that once the process started the entire stalk would ripen in three or four days. Looks like a menu of banana smoothies, banana bread, Bananas Foster, and baked bananas for a few days. Perhaps we’ll put a dozen or so through the blender with a bit of milk, ice, and rum and invite friends over for sundowners.

It’s a rough life here. Cool evening breezes, friendly people, sea lions and penguins, and a beach BBQ scheduled for Sunday evening. Still, the Port Captain will limit our stay to a few days, and visions of grass skirts beckon. We will move on in a few days.

[Note from Eric: in 1997, one of our instructors, Carl Strange, and his wife set off to sail the world.  Everyone wanted to know what was happening with Carl, Karen, and later with the addition of their new crew member, Rebecca.  So, we started to publish “The Strange Chronicles” so everyone could travel with them.  I was looking through some old files and found the Chronicles.  I started rereading them and decided it would be fun to republish some excerpts from them. They are an insight to the cruising lifestyle.]

Puerto Villamil Isla Isabela

Located on the southeastern coast of Isabela. Puerto Villamil is the main settlement area on Isabela. A small peaceful town with a laid-back atmosphere offers quite a different experience than the tourist shops on Puerto Ayora.

Villamil and the neighboring settlement of Santo Tomas were founded in 1897 by Antonio Gil. Villamil began as the center of a lime production operation. The lime produced by burning coral found off Isabela. Santo Tomas served as a sulfur mine and coffee plantation. The ventures were only somewhat profitable due to water limitations.

Together Villamil and Santo Tomas now have a population of approximately 1000 people. There are a variety of rooms available for visitors and equipment and supplies available for those climbing the nearby Sierra Negra Volcano.

Villamil is often considered the most beautiful site in the Galapagos with its long white sand, palm-lined beaches. Behind Villamil are several brackish water lagoons where Pink Flamingoes, Common Stilts, Whimbrels, White-Cheeked Pintails, and Gallinules are usually seen. The lagoons are nesting areas between November – April. The beaches and lagoons near Villamil are home to the best migratory bird viewing in the Galapagos.

[From www.galapagosonline.com]

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.